Tuesdays with Dorie: Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler

After a quick chocolate fix last week, TWD’s summer fruit theme picks right back up, with Amanda’s (from Like Sprinkles on a Cupcake) selection of Dorie’s Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler. Interestingly (and luckily), rhubarb doesn’t seem to have a season here, and I can find it all year-round at the growers’ markets. Fresh cherries, however, are out in force at Christmastime and pretty much non-existent right now…so this, my friends, is when I must turn to the glorious bounty of the frozen food aisle if I wanna keep up. Armed with a bunch of fresh rhubarb and a box of frozen sweet cherries, I thought I was all set to take this cobbler on.

Then d’oh! I did hit a snag when I saw that the cobbler topping includes whole wheat flour. Just before we moved into this new apartment, I used up the last of my whole wheat in a pizza crust. For reasons I’ll get into later when things become more definite, I’ve been hoping to avoid buying any new ingredients that I can’t easily use up in a few months time. I definitely wanted to include the whole wheat component, as it’s something unique from the other Dorie cobbler we’ve baked, so I decided to make a “homemade” version rather than buy another big bag. No, I didn’t go out back to the grist mill and grind my own (that thing’s been broken since the mid-1800’s– ha!)…I just subbed half AP flour and half wheat germ, which I did have already, for the amount of whole wheat.

There were a couple of things I really liked about this cobbler: the cute little rounds of wheaten topping (which I’ll use again, for sure), and the kick from the ground ginger in both the topping and the filling. There was something about the fruit itself that I wasn’t so crazy about, and it had to do with the cherries. Maybe I’m just used to sour cherries in cobblers and pies, and don’t care for baked sweet cherries. Or maybe it’s simply that fresh cherries would have been better than frozen. Who knows? I don’t, but maybe I can compare when fresh cherries are in season.

Great job with your topping, looks beautiful and delicious! Also, thank you so much for responding to my rhubarb questions on the TWD P & Q board! I really appreciate your advice and it saved my dessert! Thanks!

Good call on the AP/wheat germ sub, I would have never thought of it! Your cobbler looks picture perfect, too bad the cherries weren’t to your taste. Let us all know if and when you give it another go with fresh cherries!